Jeff Dowd of the Seattle Seven is the model for The Dude in The Big Lebowski

October 16, 2005 11:56 PM

Jeff Dowd of the Seattle Seven is the model for The Dude in The Big Lebowski
posted by y2karl (43 comments total)

Grow-A-Brain's Lebowski Link Fest
posted by y2karl at 11:58 PM on October 16, 2005

Two occurances of the word "imaged" as typo for imagined/imagining - A.P. aren't what they used to be...

And I just watch Lebowski again last night - awesome film...
posted by benzo8 at 12:15 AM on October 17, 2005

I saw the Big Lebowski for the first time this year. Can someone explain its appeal?
posted by keswick at 12:23 AM on October 17, 2005

Keswick: It's just fun to watch. The characters are funny, it's endlessly quotable, the performances are beautiful.

Plus, Sam Elliott plays a phantom cowboy that exists only in the dude's head.

But, YMMV. The dude abides.
posted by zerolives at 12:34 AM on October 17, 2005

Can someone explain its appeal?

Meatball Doesn't Work That Way...
posted by y2karl at 12:41 AM on October 17, 2005

keswick: zerolives pretty much nails it, but for me, it's the fact that the Coen's managed to write a perfect "fish-out-of-water" story while insisting that The Dude was pretty much the "man of his time and place" - that dichotomy was just perfectly balanced.
posted by benzo8 at 12:43 AM on October 17, 2005

nice tags

Casualness runs deep.
posted by caddis at 12:53 AM on October 17, 2005

I had no idea there was a "Seattle Seven". However, doesn't everyone who could possibly be interested already know about Jeff Dowd?
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 12:53 AM on October 17, 2005

"Plus, Sam Elliott plays a phantom cowboy that exists only in the dude's head."

I don't know why you're so sure of that. As far as I'm concerned, he's just as "real" as any other character in the film.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 12:55 AM on October 17, 2005

Even Knox Harrington, the video artist?
posted by maxsparber at 3:29 AM on October 17, 2005

Vidiot's photos from the most recent Lebowskifest. He'll be at the NYC event this weekend, too.
posted by tizzie at 3:58 AM on October 17, 2005

This here's the Dude. Here he's admiring the Lebowskifest burlesque dancers with his special lady friend (that one is in my Flickr set from the 'fest - my third visit.) Explaining it's appeal would be like talking to a child, who just wandered in to the room...
posted by tizzie at 4:09 AM on October 17, 2005

However, doesn't everyone who could possibly be interested already know about Jeff Dowd?

Well I didn't. I didn't even know there were Lebowskifests and all this cult following. So there. I approve this post.
posted by funambulist at 4:51 AM on October 17, 2005

Far fucking out, man!
posted by anomie at 6:32 AM on October 17, 2005 [1 favorite]

Lebowski Fest.

You mean, like an Irish monk?
posted by Vidiot at 6:52 AM on October 17, 2005

Shut the fuck up, anomie.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 7:10 AM on October 17, 2005

You're out of your element.
posted by stenseng at 7:15 AM on October 17, 2005

I saw the Big Lebowski for the first time this year. Can someone explain its appeal?

The Dude abides. I don't know about you, but I take some comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there - the Dude - takin' 'er easy for all us sinners.
posted by gompa at 7:53 AM on October 17, 2005 [1 favorite]

Just excellent.
posted by fatllama at 8:06 AM on October 17, 2005

I saw the Big Lebowski for the first time this year. Can someone explain its appeal?

Hard to say exactly why, but it's one of my favorite movies of all time, up there with The Good the Bad and the Ugly, 2001, Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction, Taxi Driver...

The dialogue is great and the cinematography is just gorgeous. I could watch that slo-mo bowling for hours on end. It has an excellent soundtrack, that I was singing to myself just this morning.

It's just a great movie. Most people I know that are "into" movies really like it.

I don't know why you're so sure of that. As far as I'm concerned, he's just as "real" as any other character in the film.

Well, here's the thing: The Dude only meets him twice, and despite the Cowboy narrating the story, the Dude never tells him about any of these events. So how does the Cowboy know? That doesn't mean he's in the Dude's head, but he sure is mysterious.
posted by sonofsamiam at 8:07 AM on October 17, 2005

Ethereal Bligh, is that some kinda eastern thing?
posted by anomie at 8:52 AM on October 17, 2005

The Cowboy is God. He knows all. The Dude is a sort of slacker Jesus. He slacks off for our sins.

But mostly the Cowboy is the narrator because someone has to tell the fucking story. It doesn't matter if he's real or not. The Dude won't do it. He's not really interested in talking about himself, and besides, it's too much work.
posted by nyxxxx at 9:21 AM on October 17, 2005

You can read it here, or even perform it with your co-workers.
This movie never gets old for me...
posted by maryh at 9:49 AM on October 17, 2005

The first time I watched it I thought it was the stupidest movie I ever saw. Then I ended up watching it again and it had somehow transformed into a work of genius. I think it has to do with the mindset you have going into it.
posted by small_ruminant at 10:17 AM on October 17, 2005

stenseng:

"You're out of your element."

I'm calmer than you are.
posted by muppetboy at 10:31 AM on October 17, 2005

calmern'youare dude
posted by splatta at 11:34 AM on October 17, 2005

Dowd: A lot of the body language is 110 percent spot on. That's very, very similar. Some of the dress is pretty close.

Well, that's mildly disturbing. I wonder if he used to own a pair of those jelly shoes..
posted by iron chef morimoto at 11:50 AM on October 17, 2005

calmerenyouare
posted by muppetboy at 12:22 PM on October 17, 2005

I didn't know about Jeff Dowd before, either. But I did know that Walter Sobchak was based on John Milius.
posted by soiled cowboy at 1:16 PM on October 17, 2005

Nice marmot.
posted by CunningLinguist at 3:01 PM on October 17, 2005

these men are cowards, donnie.
posted by mwhybark at 4:52 PM on October 17, 2005

Not the compromised second draft.
posted by luckypozzo at 5:41 PM on October 17, 2005

"This is not Nam. This is bowling. There are rules."
posted by SPrintF at 6:19 PM on October 17, 2005

Thanks for this post. I was not (you know--in the parlance of our times) privy to all the new shit.
posted by Chrischris at 6:19 PM on October 17, 2005

This post really ties the blue together.
posted by Lebowski at 7:30 PM on October 17, 2005 [2 favorites]

I saw the Big Lebowski for the first time this year. Can someone explain its appeal?

Watch it again. Then watch it a third time.

This movie really grows on you. Well, it did for me, at any rate.
posted by graventy at 8:24 PM on October 17, 2005

True. I've watched it four or five times now, and it is the only movie I've ever seen that has consistently improved on every single repeat, to my unending surprise.

Apparently this is a relatively common experience, judging by this entry at Everything.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 8:34 PM on October 17, 2005

It's such a dopey gag, but I love the scene at Jackie Treehorn's where the Dude tries to decode Jackie's scribble. It's such a great homage/slap at North by Northwest.
And I didn't know Walter was based on Milius (makes perfect sense, tho') or that Bunny was played by Tara Reid.... I'm a richer woman for reading this thread. And proud I am of all of you.
posted by maryh at 12:11 AM on October 18, 2005

Maryh, this guy had a great shirt based on that scribble.
posted by tizzie at 3:57 AM on October 18, 2005

Say what you want about the tenets of Metafilter, at least its an ethos.
posted by goofyfoot at 11:47 AM on October 18, 2005

Metafilter: at least it's an ethos
posted by splatta at 7:42 PM on October 18, 2005

and Bunny's license plate, by the way, is "LAPIN." I'm just sayin'.
posted by Vidiot at 9:57 AM on October 19, 2005

you can imagine where this thread goes from here...
posted by muppetboy at 12:59 PM on October 19, 2005